Tuesday, October 25, 2011

“Off the field, Tebow is as solid as they come; a team leader, humanitarian, and just about everything else.”

“Reminds me of: A beefed up, less polished version of Steve Young”

“He’s just a winner.”

The above are some of the things said about Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow upon his entry in the NFL draft. Now turn your attention to some of the things said about a quarterback often compared to Tim Tebow, Cam Newton."You mad? HAHAHA"“Does not spin a tight spiral. Very disingenuous — has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup.”

“Lacks accountability, focus and trustworthiness — is not punctual, seeks shortcuts and sets a bad example.”

“Immature and has had issues with authority. Not dependable.”

Notice something strange there? When referring to Tebow nothing of his mechanical shortcomings were brought to the light, just how great a person he is, and I don’t doubt that he is a great person. But great people aren’t always the greatest quarterbacks. Hell going off personality traits Joey Harrington should be the greatest quarterback of all time. Now when Newton came out not only was his unorthodox style for a quarterback dissected, but also his personal life. Due to some shady characters, including his own father; Newton was painted as a guy who was going to fail at quarterback simply because he had “character risks.” Now what’s the reason for this? I don’t want to say it’s only race, but this does has a racial aspect.

For years black quarterbacks have been said to be “not smart enough” to be a quarterback, which was one of the knocks against Newton. Tebow played in a similar spread offense in Florida and while it was suggested he change positions it wasn’t due to his intelligence. Tebow has been lauded for his ability to just win, meanwhile glossing over the fact that Newton went undefeated in every game he started from his senior year in high school until a season opening loss to the Cardinals. Seems like a winner to me.

Tebow is often shown as being a hard worker, which is true; Tebow busts his ass every week as he should. But that implies every other player in the NFL doesn’t. To make it that far you have to be a hard worker. It takes blood, sweat, and tears and years of dedication and Tebow is not special in that regard as all players in the NFL have worked hard to get there.Legendary?!?!?! It was against a winless team starting their backup!

I think though what angers me most about Tebow is not even anything he has done in particular. His supporters take any criticism toward the guy as an assault on Christianity. First of all Tebow is not the first openly religious football player, see Deion Sanders, Randall Cunningham, Kurt Warner, Emmitt Smith and Reggie White. So the idea that athletes have never before openly shared their faith is a complete and utter lie.

I have no problem with Tim Tebow, but the idea that I have to love him as a quarterback because he is a good person is ridiculous. There has been no evidence to suggest that his skill set will ever revolutionize the position and he can at best be a poor man’s (a very poor man’s) Kordell Stewart. As Tebow’s ascension to the Hall of Fame is being covered ad nauseam, we’re missing a real revolution in Carolina and that’s a damn shame.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

After a two week hiatus everyone’s favorite angry puma is back with his predictions on the grandest individual prize in all of college sports, the Heisman trophy.

3. Trent Richardson: RB- AlabamaSeason: 132 rushes for 912 yards and 15 TDs; 15 receptions for 179 yards and one TD; two kick returns for 43 yards.Not many schools are afforded the luxury of losing a Heisman winning running back to the NFL and have him replaced with a dynamic talent who is capable of winning the Heisman trophy himself. While not the between the tackle back Mark Ingram was he is just as dangerous and possibly has the most deadly cutback in all of college football.

2.Robert Griffin III: QB- BaylorSeason: 142-of-182 passing for 22 TDs and two INTs; 72 rushes for 295 yards and two TDs; one reception for 15 yards; one punt for 39 yards.Seriously this kid is having an amazing season and my fear is that due to the fact Baylor will at the end of the day lose 2-3 more games his amazing campaign will be for naught.

1.Andrew Luck: QB-StanfordSeason: 129-of-181 passing for 1,719 yards, 18 TDs and three INTs; 13 rushes for 60 yards and one TD; one reception for 13 yards.

Well consider me on the Andrew Luck bandwagon. Got off to a rough start last week throwing a pick in first throw but after the half he came back and well he did what Andrew Luck does. Some team is going to be very “Lucky” come the 2012 draft.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Friday, October 7, 2011

Today I delve deep into myself and share an ongoing struggle in which I am unselfishly sharing with you. This is a story of unfair prosecution and hopefully the tyrant responsible will one day realize the error of their ways. I like one of hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans take the train to work. On my daily pilgrimage to my place of employment I see some of the same faces and we have become acquaintances. A ‘hello’ here and there, a wave, a head nod. But there is a dark force trying to cloud the happy little family that is the Asian hipster, slutty dressed teen, and old black man who usually sit near me. This force is an older Romanian woman.

I should begin this story from the beginning. I usually arrive to the train everyday at 6:30 and I sit in the second seat on the second car as it puts me near the stairs when I reach the loop. For the past few months there has been an elderly Romanian woman who sits in front of me and as I do with my other amigos in traveling I say hello or flash one of my patented grins at the lady. And for the past few months whenever I sit down she promptly gathers her things and relocates to another seat.

For a while I brushed this off until one morning I finally had to ask. So I looked at her as she scowled at me as she moved and simply asked “why do you move whenever I sit down?” She looked at me shocked that I would speak to her. Asian hipster, old black man and slutty dressed teen held their breaths in anticipation of her answer. She said nothing. This time though instead of relocating to another seat, this lady relocates to another car completely!

So now the gauntlet has been thrown. I pledge to you my internet friends, enemies and stalkers, that one day I will have this woman acknowledge my presence. My current method of attack is every time I see her I immediately hit her with a 2 handed wave and smiling widely (which may be terrifying given the caffeine infused state I am in at 6:30 am). Waving method performed by adorable child

So from time to time I will update you on journey. The road is long, and the task is arduous. But I know that I will be successful. And one day my ragtag comrades of commuting can add an elderly Romanian woman to our midst and be complete as a group of strangers can be.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

This is just a quick little rant about a photo I saw online and no it’s not Jay Cutler seen holding hands with Kristin Can-I-Get a talent. No this refers to a photo taken from an event called Slutwalk. Now I am not well versed in the modus operandi of the event but according to the website its sole function is “to enforce the truth that those who experience sexual assault are never at fault-- no exceptions. We seek to combat a culture that teaches ‘don't get raped,’ as opposed to ‘don't rape.’” I have no problem with this so allow me to state for those who like to fight for no reason, the following rant has nothing to do with the event. It does however have a lot to do with this:Yes upon seeing the photo I did a double take and assumed I was being punked. Surely this person who brazenly held the sign up didn’t believe that “woman” is equal to “nigger.” I could go into the etymology of the words but instead I will use the common sense retort, woman = gender; “nigger”=racial slur. One is not like the other. It also does a disservice to a very worthy cause. People are focusing on a sign rather than the intended message of the event. So to the young lady holding up the sign so brazenly let me tell you this, keep up the work you are doing, but please gain perspective when writing signs. Otherwise some handsome mofo with a blog might write a rambling blog post about you.

Like sand through an hour glass I present to you the week 3 of the Chocolate Puma’s Heisman rankings. Enjoy.

3. Russell Wilson: QB- WisconsinSeason: 83-of-111 passing for 1,391 yards, 13 TDs and one INT; 22 rushes for 140 yards and two TDsMr. Wilson was huge in his team’s complete and utter humiliation of Nebraska over the weekend. All season he has been a steady hand and morphing from a poor man’s Cam Newton to future lottery pick that compares to no one.

2. Andrew Luck: QB- StanfordSeason: 80-of-112 passing for 1,013 yards, 11 TDs and one INT; 11 rushes for 58 yards and one TD; one reception for 13 yards. Welcome to the top three Mr. Luck, you’ll probably be here the rest of the season. He was somehow both efficient and dynamic in the Cardinal decimation of UCLA over the weekend. This young man is no joke ladies and gentlemen.

1. Robert Griffin III: QB- BaylorSeason: 93-of-113 passing for 1,308 yards, 18 TDs and one INT; 36 rushes for 173 yards and one TD; one catch for 15 yards; one punt for 39 yards

If you have been following this then you know I am bordering on a man crush on RG3. This kid had his third 5 touchdown game of the young season although he did throw his first pick which led to his team’s loss. That matters not to the Puma as the Heisman is an individual award and there has been no more dynamic individual that the signal caller from Waco.